All characters involved in sexual activities are over the age of 18.
This story is an offshoot of Quaranteam by CorruptingPower. Certain story elements develop directly from his existing universe. DiD merely attempts to tell how the tale would develop for a man in the DFW metroplex. I offer my thanks to Corrupting Power for allowing this story, to the other writer working in the QT universe for their assistance, guidance, and support, and to you for continuing on this journey with me.
If you're just joining Dave in Dallas, you really oughta skip back to chapter one and get caught up, but hey, you do you right?
Returning readers, welcome back! Ready to dive in to another installment of Dave and his band of lovelies? Yeah, me too!
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Ch 8 -- Planning a Future
October 19, 2020
Shawna's early shift meant she was home for dinner with enough time to change and sit with the family talking while Lupe and Reena prepared the meal.
"Mom was a pretty good painter. She actually sold a few at small auctions. The one she was proudest of, she gave to Dave though. He's a fan of seascapes, so she made this beautiful painting with a cliff in the upper left and a roiling, storm-tossed ocean filling most the canvas. Lots of white caps and ocean spray, dark stormy waters, the whole works. You could almost feel like you were on the deck of a ship struggling to stay afloat in the storm." Liv looked wistful as she spoke of her mom's talents.
"Oh! I've seen that one!" Jan exclaimed.
The others looked between Livy, Dave, and Jan.
With a neutral face that they had become accustomed to at certain times Dave said, "I put it away in a closet to keep it safe. I ... went through a dark time there for a while. I didn't want to damage it."
"And I found it when I was looking for the book boxes you mentioned. I'm sorry I brought it up, Dave." Olivia nodded her agreement with Jan.
"Don't be ladies. Janelle's gift is a bright point. Honestly, I'm at a place now that I would feel safe bringing it back out. And the photos."
A small relief settle over the gathering. There were a few spots that obviously held a picture or painting for some years, but had been bare when the ladies arrived. The general state of the world, and the events of Olivia and Melanie's arrival made each reluctant to broach the subject.
"It would be good to see pictures of Eddie, Janelle, and ... Carter?" Shawna said softly.
"I don't think I ever saw Livy's parents, but I met Eddie a few times." Becca chimed in. "He was a nice guy. Kinda handsome too. But, I know where he got that from." She blew an air kiss to Dave. The others grinned or chuckled, with a few nods.
"Well, she made the painting in Eddie's senior year, and he was between girlfriends when Mom finished. She had me bring it over on a weekend she knew Eddie was staying with Dave. Dave hadn't moved to this house yet."
Dave chuckled, in memory, as he realized where Olivia was going with this story.
"Keep in mind, Eddie is almost three years older than me. At the time, I was a few months past fifteen, and Eddie was shy of his eighteenth birthday by a few months. Mom drives me, but hangs back a bit, having me talk to Dave and Eddie. I get to Dave's front door, all flustered, 'cuz here's my crush, that I fantasize about spending my life with," Olivia is beaming a big smile at this point, with Dave replying with a shame-faced smile, "being all happy for this gift I'm giving him and showing me all this affection, but like I'm a well-loved daughter, not a woman he'd go out with. And all these little-girl-in-love feelings are just going haywire."
The older ladies all showed some level of sympathy for Olivia. For her part, Becca slipped off her spot, nestled in beside Dave and said, "I don't know what you're talking about." The play-act was good for a chuckle.
"That's when Eddie pipes up and offers to take me out that evening. He looked uncertain, but somewhat interested. We were friends, but there'd been no romance, no attraction. I was torn, because Eddie is a --" Olivia swallowed "--was a great guy, but he wasn't the guy I was after. I agreed, though. A week later he admitted that Dave put him up to it, and Mom was almost certainly involved. The three of them made multiple attempts at throwing us together. Hell, Eddie was the only boy Daddy didn't try to scare off."
"Wait, so you dated Eddie?"
"Not really. It was just two friends hanging out. It happened a few times as Mom, Dad, and Dave kept trying to get us together, but it never stuck. We both thought the other was an incredible person," she paused for a second again, "but there was no ... no spark of desire. I mean, yeah, he thought I was pretty, I thought he was handsome, but it just wasn't there."
"OK, 'cuz that would have been really weird. Especially if you two had --"
"Nope." Olivia said it awfully quick, with a bit of extra color rising in her face.
That caused everyone else to lean in.
"Girl," was all Shawna said.
Olivia rolled her eyes and exhaled hard. "They were trying so hard, and we really liked each other, and we thought maybe if we just tried ... but we couldn't kiss without giggling. Like we couldn't bring our lips together we'd bust out laughing first. On the cheek was fine, but lips touching was just too goofy." Olivia stared off into space for a moment. "Okay, there was one time we tried to go all the way. I was over eighteen by then. We each undressed ourselves, but by the time we were both naked, we both had the nervous giggles. On paper, we should have been a great match, but something big was missing."
"Oh, I've felt it," Becca said, waving her hand in the air, "I know what the big missing thing was."
The whole house cracked up laughing.
"Hey, we are talking about my friend here. And he's Dave son, so he was no slouch there. It just wasn't hard. That was a little demoralizing. I'm standing there, naked, tits out, not trying to hide anything, and I was already keeping it trimmed, so it's all out there where he can see it, and he's limp. Full length, but limp. That was a blow to my ego."
"Coulda been worse. If you had slept with Eddie ..." A collective shiver ran through the room.
"Yeah, yeah that would be weird. I may or may not have gone out the next weekend and found a guy to assuage my hurt ego, though." A few sympathy nods occurred in response. "About two months later, I found another boyfriend, but by then, I knew in my heart I was just biding time 'til I was old enough to pursue Dave. I was over eighteen, of course, but I knew I needed to be a bit older to really get his attention. That relationship eventually petered out, and every guy since has been a month or two fling about twice a year so I don't go crazy."
"And now you have your dream guy." Jan supplied.
Just then, Reena came out to the arch separating the dining room and living room. "We're starting to bring dishes out to the table. You can start taking seats." Looking at Becca, she added, somewhat resignedly, "Did you tell him yet?"
Becca squealed. "I almost forgot! Thank you for reminding me! We were watching MTV earlier, and they're going through a leadership change. Like all the bigwigs got fired, and now they have a new CEO."
Dave looked askance. "I haven't been interested in MTV for a few decades, back before they should have stopped using the 'M' if they were being honest."
"That's just it though! The new guy has announced they will refocus on music."